One Small Action
by shadowwhat
Summary: Be it by compassion, Or maybe determination...
1. One Small Action

_**One small action,**_

 _ **Be it by compassion,**_

 _ **Or maybe determination...**_

… _**Can change fate itself.**_

 **Aka: Arkos fan doesn't want to see their ship sunk.**

Cinder had the so called 'Invincible Girl' at her mercy, with her bow readied and an arrow drawn, there was no way she could miss. Her victory was assured, even as this foolish child had attempted to stop her.

"Do you believe in destiny?" The defeated girl asked. For Cinder, this was a simple question. She need only to look around and see how the world fell into chaos. Poor child was probably looking for a small comfort before her death.

"Yes." A simple response, indeed, but it mattered not, for Pyrrha Nikos would soon be dead. Cinder prepared to relish the death of her target.

That is, unless a familiar shield didn't smack into her arms, causing the arrow to bury itself into the rubble beside its target. Glancing at the nuisance, and seeing the crescents upon it, she only needed to hear the gorls gasp to confirm what she knew. Turning to face the newest threat, she found herself underwhelmed.

He was out of breath, bleeding, and dazed, but Jaune Arc still stood defiant across from her.

No matter, the Arc child would simply need to be dealt with first. Allowing the boy to frantically sprint towards herself, she began focusing her powers and summoning a ball that resembled a mini-sun. Realizing too late that this particular attack would use too much of her remaining aura, she siphoned off what little power she could before releasing a torrent of death at her opponent.

Jaune had barely a second to react to this orange death that wished to claim him, so he let his instinct take over. Bright and valiant, as if waiting for his command, his aura surrounded him, an instant before the beam was upon him.

Cinder had many plans, some complex, a few simple, and all with a plethora of variables, after all, who needs a plan 'B' when plan 'A' could cover ever base you want it too? Unfortunately for her, she had not made a plan to fight the Arc boy, only attacking him because it was convenient. Had she taken the time to study him, she might have learned something important. Jaune didn't know what his semblance was, and unknowns were never something you could plan for. So when her own attack came flying back towards her, she could only blink and mouth one word before she was hit.

"Reflection." For that must have been the boy's semblance. To be able to reflect attacks, what an interesting ability.

Jaune picked himself up from the ground, taking a few moments to stand, trying to clear his clustered thoughts. Even with his growing migraine, one word, one _name_ came rushing to the front. He dare not breathe before seeing her alive, so he ran to her. Falling to his knees in front of the injured girl, Jaune hugged her close, tears running down his face.

"Pyrrha, I'm so glad you're oka-" His words were cut short, his sentence dying on his tongue even as his eyes widened in realization. He was stunned, shocked, and all because of the arrow buried in the plate on his back. He had made a grave mistake by turning his back to his opponent, and now he knew the cost of such folly.

"Jaune! No!" two voices shouted as one, both lost to the boy as everything faded to white.

 **A/N**

 **I'm posting this from work, so I can't look over it for errors...**

 **If this gets enough reviews, I'll write another chapter or so for closure. :3**


	2. A Moment Repeated

Pyrrha awoke in a white room. No, not white, as her eyes adjusted, she saw the many colors that made up the room she was in. Looking around, while trying to remember what had caused her to be in this unfamiliar house, she saw a framed photo of what must have been Ruby and Yang, along with someone she could only assume was their father, judging by the way he held them close. Seeing the smiles and the bright colors began to remind her of something important. Some _one_ important.

Jaune.

It hurt her, somewhere deep in her heart, knowing that she would never be able to see him smile, or contemplate simple things, or even frown towards something he found distasteful. He had been so full of determination, of compassion and potential, only to have the fire of his life snuffed by the wicked hands of Cinder Fall. That woman would suffer for what she had done, but Pyrrha knew it would change nothing.

Rising from the bed she had slept in, she decided to plan out her future goals. Step one, of course, was to learn about what had happened after… well, when she was unconscious. The next step was to mourn the fallen, the final number of which she was afraid to learn. Her final step, the only goal she could think of, was to _destroy_ Cinder Fall. Pyrrha wanted that wretched, evil creature broken on the ground before her, begging for death. But of course, every journey begins with the first step, so Pyrrha took that first step.

Directly into Ruby Rose.

"wagh!" a strangled noise made its way out of the shorter girls throat, a sign of her surprise.

"Pyrrha, are you okay? Why are you walking? You should be laying down!" Needless comments on how Ruby's voice was causing her the most pain ran through her thoughts, even as she thought of an appropriate response to alleviate the young girls worries.

"I'm fine, Ruby, just feeling a little lost after everything that happened. Could you tell me where we are, and… and what happened to… well, what happened after _he_ was shot." Pyrrha dare not speak his name, lest the sorrow and pain she had been holding back come rushing forth.

"I don't know much about it myself, I kinda… also fell unconscious? I know uncle Qrow came to save us, but he told me we were the only ones in the area. Every other place was infested by Grimm, but he was able to fight them off. I'm surprised he was able to carry us so far, he's really strong." Ruby said her piece, finishing her story with just a dash of awe.

"Well he is a certified Hunter, so he should hav-" Pyrrha was quickly interrupted by her current companion.

"Not Qrow, he had to kill all the Grimm that were following us. I meant Jaune. He's the one who carried us most of the way home. I think my dad met up with them at some point and decided to carry me home. Of course, Uncle led us all the way back, which probably made it take much longer than if he had just swallowed his pride and let Dad lead." Poor Ruby didn't realize that Pyrrha had stop listening to her shortly after the story began.

"Jaune is alive? Where?" All of her meticulous planning, along with any surface thoughts, disappeared when her mind was flooded by the hope, the want to see Jaune healthy and breathing again.

"You mean you didn't see him? He should have been laying on the couch by your bed." Barely a second had passed when she finished, but Pyrrha was already halfway through the door, looking for her partner.

Seeing the empty couch by her bed left her wondering. Where would Jaune have gone? Had he even been here in the first place? What if she had gotten her hopes up, and Jaune actually _was_ dead?

"Boo." To her credit, she didn't scream, but turning and decking Jaune probably wasn't the best way to handle the situation. It _was_ his fault, to be fair, so maybe this would teach him not to dissappear when she was worried. Now all she needed to do was let him have a piece of her mind.

"Jaune, I thought you were…" Or maybe just jump into the nitty-gritty, yeah, she meant to say that.

"Are you talking about the giant glowing Fanta ray, or the arrow part?" Oh dust, she must be histerical, did Jaune just joke about almost dieing?

"T-the arrow, it hit you, it hit you in your back." And now she was crying. _Wonderful_.

"Actually, it got stuck inside my plate. Why doesn't anybody ask how strong these things are? I mean I wear them for every fight, why would I do that if they were flimsy?" Hopefully Jaune wasn't expecting a response, because Pyrrha was already past speaking. As sobs wracked her body, and tears stained her face, she tackled the Arc boy with a hug.

Wrapping his arms around her, Jaune let her fall asleep in his arms, before dropping her into the bed.

"There's still something I want to know." A voice spoke from the doorway. It was Qrow, the Hunter that helped him get his friends to safety. When Jaune nodded, the man continued.

"You said she shoved you into one of the rocket lockers, so how did you make it to the top of the tower in time?" This question had plagued him since they returned, and now he wanted an answer.

"The thruster in the bottom was busted, so it actually sent me into the air for a second before burying itself in the side of the tower." Jaune had sat down mid conversation, and was slowly nodding off.

Noticing the poor kids state, knowing that he had barely slept a handful of hours waiting for the girl to wake up, Qrow decided to get himself a drink before getting some much needed rest.

 **A/N**

 **Did you guys really think I would kill Jaune? Ha! I laugh at the idea!**

 **I decided five reviews was plenty, I was actually already writing this chapter when I posted the first one.**

 **So what do you guys think? How'd I do?**

 **Oh! And the One Small Action was actually the moment Jaune showed up, in case anyone wanted to know.**


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